Michael Servetus - His Ashes Cry Out Against John Calvin

You are about to
read an important part of church history from the Reformation period that has
been so concealed in our day that very few people know the facts. Brace yourself
for a shock.

On October 27, 1553 John Calvin, the founder of
Calvinism, had Michael Servetus, the Spanish physician, burned at the stake just
outside of Geneva for his doctrinal heresies!
(1)

Hence, the
originator of the popular doctrine of "once saved, always saved" (known in
certain circles as "the perseverance of the saints") violated the cry of the
Reformation -- "Sola Scriptura" -- by murdering a doctrinal heretic without
Scriptural justification.

This event was something Calvin had considered long
before Servetus was even captured, for Calvin wrote his friend, Farel, on
February 13, 1546 (seven years prior to Servetus' arrest) and
went on record as saying:

"If he [Servetus]
comes [to Geneva], I shall never let him go out alive
if my authority has weight."(2)

Evidently, in that day Calvin's
authority in Geneva, Switzerland had ultimate "weight." This is why some
referred to Geneva as the "Rome of Protestantism"
(3) and to Calvin as
the "Protestant 'Pope' of Geneva."
(4)

During Servetus' trial, Calvin wrote: "I hope that the verdict will call for
the death penalty."(5)

All this reveals a side of John Calvin that is not well-known or very
appealing, to say the least! Obviously, he had a prolonged, murderous hate in
his heart and was willing to violate Scripture to put another to death and in a
most cruel way. Although Calvin consented to Servetus' request to be beheaded,
he acquiesced to the mode of execution employed. But why did Calvin have a death
wish for Servetus?

"To rescue Servetus from his heresies, Calvin
replied with the latest edition of his 'Institutes of the Christian Religion,'
which Servetus promptly returned with insulting marginal comments. Despite
Servetus's [sic] pleas, Calvin, who developed an intense dislike of Servetus
during their correspondence, refused to return any of the incriminating
material."(6)

"Convicted of heresy by the Roman Catholic
authorities, Servetus escaped the death penalty by a prison break. Heading for
Italy, Servetus unaccountably stopped at Geneva, where he had been denounced
by Calvin and the Reformers. He was seized the day after his arrival,
condemned as a heretic when he refused to recant, and burned in 1553
with the apparent tacit approval of Calvin."
(7)

In the course of his flight from Vienne,
Servetus stopped in Geneva and made the mistake of attending a sermon by
Calvin. He was recognized and arrested after the service.
(8) "Calvin had him [Servetus]
arrested as a heretic. Convicted and burned to death."
(9)
From the time that Calvin had him arrested on August 14th until his
condemnation, Servetus spent his remaining days: " ... in an atrocious dungeon with no
light or heat, little food, and no sanitary facilities."
(10)

Let it be noted that the Calvinists of Geneva put half-green wood around the
feet of Servetus and a wreath strewn with sulfur on his head. It took over
thirty minutes to render him lifeless in such a fire, while the people of Geneva
stood around to watch him suffer and slowly die! Just before this happened, the
record shows:

"Farel walked beside the condemned man, and kept up a constant
barrage of words, in complete insensitivity to what Servetus might be feeling.
All he had in mind was to extort from the prisoner an acknowledgement [sic] of
his theological error -- a shocking example of the soulless cure of souls.
After some minutes of this, Servetus ceased making any reply and prayed
quietly to himself.

When they arrived at the place of execution, Farel
announced to the watching crowd: 'Here you see what power Satan possesses when
he has a man in his power. This man is a scholar of distinction, and he
perhaps believed he was acting rightly. But now Satan possesses him
completely, as he might possess you, should you fall into his traps.'

When the executioner began his work, Servetus
whispered with trembling voice: 'Oh God, Oh God!' The thwarted Farel snapped
at him: 'Have you nothing else to say?' This time Servetus replied to him:
'What else might I do, but speak of God!' Thereupon he was lifted onto the
pyre and chained to the stake.

A wreath strewn with sulfur was placed on his
head. When the faggots were ignited, a piercing cry of horror broke from him.
'Mercy, mercy!' he cried. For more than half an hour the horrible
agony continued, for the pyre had been made of half-green wood, which burned
slowly. 'Jesus, Son of the eternal God, have mercy on me,' the
tormented man cried from the midst of the flames ...."
(11)

Although we essentially have the same in the conversion of the repentant
thief (Lk. 23:42,43 cf. Lk. 18:13) and the Scripture, "Everyone who calls on the
name of the Lord will be saved" (Acts 2:21; Rom. 10:13), Farel still reckoned
Servetus an unsaved man at the end of his life: "Farel noted that Servetus might have been
saved by shifting the position of the adjective and confessing Christ as the
Eternal Son rather than as the Son of the Eternal God."
(12)

"Calvin had thus murdered his enemy,
and there is nothing to suggest that he ever repented his crime
[sic]. The next year he published a defence [sic] in which further insults
were heaped upon his former adversary in most vindictive and intemperate
language."(13)

As the Roman Catholics of 1415 burned John Hus (14) at the stake
over doctrine, John Calvin, likewise, had Michael Servetus burned at the stake.
But was doctrine the only issue? Could there have been another reason, a
political one?

"As an 'obstinate heretic' he had all his
property confiscated without more ado. He was badly treated in prison. It is
understandable, therefore, that Servetus was rude and insulting at his
confrontation with Calvin. Unfortunately for him, at this time Calvin was
fighting to maintain his weakening power in Geneva.

Calvin's opponents used
Servetus as a pretext for attacking the Geneva Reformer's theocratic
government. It became a matter of prestige -- always the sore point
for any dictatorial regime -- for Calvin to assert his power in this respect.
He was forced to push the condemnation of Servetus with all the means at his
command."
(15)

"Ironically enough, the execution of Servetus
did not really bolster the strength of the Geneva Reformation. On the
contrary, as Fritz Barth has indicated, it 'gravely compromised Calvinism and
put into the hands of the Catholics, to whom Calvin wanted to demonstrate his
Christian orthodoxy, the very best weapon for the persecution of the
Huguenots, who were nothing but heretics in their eyes.'

The procedure against
Servetus served as a model of a Protestant heretic trial .... it
differed in no respect from the methods of the medieval Inquisition .... The
victorious Reformation, too, was unable to resist the temptations of
power."
(16)

Is it possible for a man such as John Calvin to have been a "great
theologian" and at the same time to act in this reprehensible way and afterwards
show no remorse? Dear reader, do you have a heart that could, like John Calvin,
burn another person at the stake?

Let us illustrate this another way. Suppose a man from
your congregation with a reputation for being a spiritual leader captured your
neighbor's dog, chained it to a stake, then used a small amount of green
kindling to slowly burn the dog to death. What would you think of such a person,
especially if he afterwards showed no remorse? Would you want him to
interpret the Bible for you?

To make the matter even worse for John
Calvin, a person, unlike a dog, is created in the image of God! Like it or not,
we can only conclude from this evidence that John Calvin's heart was darkened,
and not enlightened, as a result of his murderous hate for Servetus. At best,
Calvin was spiritually blinded by this hate and therefore, spiritually hindered
from rightly dividing the word of truth.
(17)

At worst, which
was apparently the case, John Calvin himself was unsaved, according to
Scripture:

"But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the
murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the
idolaters and all liars -- their place will be in the fiery lake of
burning sulfur. This is the second death" (Rev. 21:8).

"We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.
The man who says, 'I know him,' but does not do what he commands is a liar and
the truth is not in him" (1 Jn. 2:3,4).

"And you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding
[continuing] in him" (1 Jn. 3:15, NKJV).
The Greek adds an important word to 1 Jn. 3:15 that is sometimes omitted in
English translations. That word is "continuing" or "abiding" (NKJV) and states
that murderous people don't have eternal life continuing in them.

Dear reader, since murderers are unsaved and John Calvin was a murderer, then
Calvin was unsaved! Moreover, since the unsaved are darkened in their spiritual
understanding (Eph. 4:18) and Calvin was unsaved based on Scripture, then Calvin
was darkened in his spiritual understanding.

Jesus said we can "know" people by their fruit (Mt. 12:33) -- be it
John Calvin or anyone else! Similarly, the Apostle John wrote: "This is how we know who the children of God are and who the
children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child
of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother" (1 Jn. 3:10).

Can you say Calvin did what was "right" regarding Servetus? If not, then
doesn't this make him a "child of the devil," according to this verse and others
already cited? Though some will rant and rave over this conclusion, can
we Scripturally come to any other?

No other evidence is needed to objectively assess Calvin's spiritual status.
However, two other men should also be briefly mentioned:

"Two other famous episodes concerned Jacques
Gruet and Jerome Bolsec. Gruet, whom Calvin considered a Libertine, had
written letters critical of the Consistory and, more serious, petitioned the
Catholic king of France to intervene in the political and religious affairs of
Geneva.

With Calvin's concurrence he was beheaded for treason. Bolsec publicly
challenged Calvin's teaching on predestination, a doctrine Bolsec, with many
others, found morally repugnant. Banished from the city in 1551, he revenged
himself in 1577 by publishing a biography of Calvin that charged him with
greed, financial misconduct, and sexual aberration."
(18)

How Should A Heretic Be Dealt With?
How should a heretic or any false teacher be dealt with, that is, if one is
willing to abide by the Biblical guidelines? Paul wrote Titus and touched upon
this very issue, which first starts out as a qualification for eldership in the
church:

"He [the elder] must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it
has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and
refute those who oppose it. For there are many rebellious
people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision
group.

They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole
households by teaching things they ought not to teach -- and that for the sake
of dishonest gain" (Titus 1:9-11).
Clearly, then, a false teacher should be "silenced," not by having
him killed, as Calvinism's founder did, but by refuting him with Scripture. This
is the true Christian method.

If Calvin's example is the standard, the next time the Jehovah's Witnesses or
Mormon missionaries come to our door, we should physically overpower them, bind
them to a stake, and make human candles out of them. Can you imagine a
professing Christian doing this, much less a reputed theologian? If done, could
you force yourself to believe such a person was truly saved and adhere to his
unique, doctrinal distinctives?

Also, false teachers should be openly named as Paul openly named
Hymenaeus and Philetus who were destroying the faith of some of the Christians
whom Paul knew:

"Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are
Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the
truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place,
and they destroy the faith of some" (2 Tim. 2:17,18).

This is also an important preventative against a false teacher's spiritual
poison.

Why did Calvin grossly violate these Scriptural guidelines? Since Paul's Holy
Spirit inspired directives (and example) regarding how to deal with a heretic
were diametrically opposed by Calvin, isn't it safe to assume that Calvin was
governed by a different spirit than Paul had? Moreover, why have these facts
about John Calvin's life rarely been mentioned in our day? The answer to this
last question is obvious.

They are both an embarrassment and refutation to the
Calvinists who proudly refer to themselves by his name! Since they are the
evangelical majority and it is their power and influence that has the greatest
sway over what is disseminated throughout our land and even the world, this
information about their founder is seldom, if ever, heard. Many people are only
now learning the shocking facts about Calvinism's founder as they read them for
the first time!

"No event has more influenced
history's judgment of Calvin than the role he played in the capture and
execution of the Spanish physician and amateur theologian Michael Servetus in
1553. This event has overshadowed everything else Calvin accomplished and
continues to embarrass his modern admirers."
(19)

Three important questions remain: (1) Can John Calvin be Scripturally
justified for murdering Michael Servetus? (2) Does a murderous hate, according
to Scripture, render one spiritually unable to accurately interpret the
Scriptures? (3) Can a murderer be saved according to Rev. 21:8?

All these answers have a bearing on the credibility of
Calvin's popular "perseverance of the saints" doctrine, among others.
Regretfully, Calvin's version of Christianity is the prevalent view in our land,
but is his view Scriptural? To answer in the affirmative is to say that Calvin's
double predestination is true, that is, some are predestined for Heaven
and others are predestined for Hell without free choice on their
part!(20)

This would violate many Scriptures, especially 2 Pet. 3:9:
"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand
slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but
everyone to come to repentance."

Furthermore, Calvin's teachings declare Jesus' work on the cross was
NOT infinite, because according to that teaching, He did not shed His
blood for every human, but only for the elect -- those predestined to be saved.

This is clearly refuted by 1 Jn. 2:2:
"He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only
for ours but also for the sins of the whole world."

Also, his "perseverance of the saints" doctrine would assert that God's power
will keep a truly saved person secure, in spite of grievous sins committed after
regeneration and/or any doctrinal heresies that would be embraced, thus
violating many Scriptural examples and warnings which prove the opposite!

It should be apparent that, from the founder down to us today, the
"perseverance of the saints" doctrine (most commonly known as "once saved always
saved") has most often been a "license for immorality" taught under the banner
of grace. See Jude 3,4.

As Calvin's own theology allowed for his actions
against Servetus, many in our day are sexually immoral, liars, drunkards, filled
with greed, etc., while they profess salvation. This is a ramification of
Calvin's perverted grace message -- a teaching which has "spread like gangrene"
from a man who could openly burn another to death and for the remaining 10 years
and seven months of his life, never publicly repent of his crime.

"Servetus' ashes will cry out against
him as long as the names of these two men are known in the world."
(21)

End Notes

1. "On only two counts, significantly, was Servetus
condemned -- namely, anti-Trinitarianism and anti-paedobaptism." Roland H.
Bainton, Hunted Heretic (The Beacon Press, 1953), p. 207. [Comment:
While Servetus was wrong about the Trinity, regarding his rejection of infant
baptism, Servetus said, "It is an invention of the devil, an infernal falsity
for the destruction of all Christianity" (Ibid., p. 186.)

Many Christians of
our day could only give a hearty "Amen" to this statement made about infant
baptism. However, this is why, in part, Servetus was condemned to death by the
Calvinists!]
(return)
2. Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge
(Baker Book House, 1950), p. 371.
(return)
3. The Wycliffe Biographical Dictionary Of The Church
(Moody Press, 1982), p. 73.
(return)
4. Stephen Hole Fritchman, Men Of Liberty (Reissued,
Kennikat Press, Inc., 1968), p. 8.
(return)
5. Walter Nigg, The Heretics (Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.,
1962), p. 328.
(return)
6. Steven Ozment, The Age Of Reformation 1250-1550
(New Haven and London Yale University Press, 1980), p. 370.
(return)
7. Who's Who In Church History (Fleming H. Revell
Company, 1969), p. 252.
(return)
8. The Heretics, p. 326.
(return)
9. The Wycliffe Biographical Dictionary Of The
Church, p. 366.
(return)
10. John F. Fulton, Michael Servetus Humanist and
Martyr (Herbert Reichner, 1953), p. 35.
(return)
11. The Heretics, p. 327.
(return)
12. Hunted Heretic, p. 214. [Comment: Nowhere in the
Bible do we see this sort of emphasis for one's salvation. The dying thief,
the Philippian jailer and Cornelius were all saved by a most basic
trusting-submitting faith in Jesus.]
(return)
13. Michael Servetus Humanist and Martyr, p. 36.
(return)
14. John Hus attacked various Roman Catholic heresies such
as transubstantiation, subservience to the Pope, belief in the saints,
efficacy of absolution through the priesthood, unconditional obedience to
earthly rulers and simony. Hus also made the Holy Scriptures the only rule in
matters of religion and faith. See The Wycliffe Biographical Dictionary Of
The Church, p. 201.
(return)
15. The Heretics, p. 326.
(return)
16. Ibid., pp. 328, 329.
(return)
17. For example, in clear contrast to the meaning that
Jesus gave of the parable of the weeds in the field (Mt. 13:24-43) where the
Lord told us "the field is the world" (v.38), John Calvin taught "the field is
the church." See Calvin's verse by verse commentary of Matthew's gospel.
(return)
18. The Age of Reformation 1250-1550, pp. 368,369.
Bolsec's book in which he charges Calvin as he did is cited as Histoire de
la vie, moeurs, actes, doctrine, constance et mort de Jean Calvin ... pub. a
Lyon en 1577, ed. M. Louis-Francois Chastel (Lyon, 1875).
(return)
19. Ibid., p. 369.
20. Augustine of Hippo, the Catholic theologian, was an
earlier proponent of predestination from whom John Calvin drew ideas.
21. The Heretics, p. 328.

All reference sources are listed at the end of this article. This article is copyrighted by Daniel D. Corner, 1995.Permission is
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